Overview

The British Embassy Manila can provide a range of notarial and documentary services for British nationals in Philippines.

Where local notaries can provide services, the British embassy will not provide them. In many case local notaries or lawyers can provide services more cheaply, quickly and conveniently. We have produced an information note to explain our policy.

You must make an appointment for each service that requires your personal attendance. Please use the links after each service to make an appointment. Some services are available by local courier only.

Before booking an appointment or sending your documents, make sure you have selected the correct service and that the document will be accepted by the relevant authority. This could be the local town hall, registry office, tax authorities, immigration office or another authority either in the Philippines, the UK or a third country.

What to bring to your appointment

See the individual services below for details of supporting documents to bring. Make sure you have acceptable proof of address and identity, and payment for any fees. See the full list of consular fees. Some services are only available by courier.

Payment

We accept payment by cash or manager’s cheque made payable to ‘British Embassy’ in the local currency on the day of the appointment.

Proof of address and identity

For all appointments for notarial services, you will need to bring acceptable proof of your identity and address.

We accept passports as proof of identity.

We accept billing statements, immigration cards, or a letter from your employer as proof of your address.

Administer an oath, affirmation or affidavit

This service is for customers who will need to make an affirmation or affidavit of marital status in order to get married in the Philippines. See getting married abroad to find out what you need to do.

The consulate will not draft documents for you. Please download the relevant template found in our marriage in the Philippines guidance and type and print this off a computer on A4 size paper. You may adjust font size or margin size as needed.

Make a certified copy of a document

This service is for customers who need certified photocopies of British passports.

British passports are the only documents the consulate can certify. We are unable to certify UK birth, death, and marriage documents due to copyright reasons. You will need to have these documents legalised by the Legalisation Office in the UK first, then by the Philippine Embassy in London, before they can be used in the Philippines.

Make a copy of a document

This service is for customers who need copies of documents such as ACPO police certificates. You do not need to visit the consulate in person. You must send documents and payment via a secure local courier to the British Embassy Manila. Please do not send documents by post.

The copy made by the embassy will contain the following wording: ‘This is a true copy made by me of a document presented to me by XXXXX, identified by passport XXXXX’. The document will also have a standard disclaimer.

What you will need to send:

a covering letter explaining what the copy of the document is to be used for (e.g. permanent resident visa)

payment of consular fee 6 in the form of a manager’s cheque made payable to ‘British Embassy’

pre-paid courier envelope for the return of all original documents

We aim to complete the service within three working days of receiving complete supporting documents and fees.

Prepare a document in English or the local language

In a limited number of cases consular staff can write a statement of fact (‘preparing a certificate’) to help British nationals with various local authorities. The wording must be cleared with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, which means these documents will take longer to prepare.

We can only provide this service if we have proof that the wording/content you require is correct and unambiguous. This service is provided at the discretion of consular staff and we can refuse to provide it. Please contact the consulate before making an appointment.

Adoption

Non-habitually resident British nationals wishing to adopt children in the Philippines can obtain from this embassy a “letter of no objection”, which may be required to satisfy the requirements of the local authorities. For more details, please see our information on adoption in the Philippines

You do not need to visit the consulate in person. You must send documents and payment via a secure local courier to the British Embassy Manila. Please do not send documents by post.

What you will need to send:

a covering letter explaining what the document/certificate is to be used for

a sworn statement from a lawyer. The suggested standard wording for such statement is: “I confirm that I have received independent legal advice and with reference to all circumstances of my particular case and in light of existing UK law, I can confirm that I am not habitually resident in the British Isles”

a clear copy of the adoptive parent’s valid British passport

original adoption papers from the court or from social services

payment of consular fee 2i in the form of a manager’s cheque made payable to ‘British Embassy’

pre-paid courier envelope for the return of all original documents and the certificate issued by the consulate

We aim to complete the service within three working days of receiving complete supporting documents and fees.

Legalise a signature or seal

Legalisation is the official confirmation that a signature, seal or stamp on a document is genuine – an essential part in the preparation of UK public documents for use overseas. Legalisation does not certify the authenticity of a document, nor does it endorse or approve the contents of a document.

Documents issued in the UK

These documents can be legalised by the Legalisation Office in the UK to confirm that a UK public official’s signature, seal or stamp on the document is genuine. Please visit https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised for more information.

There is no requirement for the British Embassy in Manila to re-legalise or add the Embassy seal/stamp on the Apostille certificate (issued by the Legalisation Office) or authenticated document (issued by the Philippine Embassy London and Department of Foreign Affairs in the Philippines).

certify your identity for British banks, building societies and other institutions

other local professionals may sign life certificates for state pension requirements. To check the required criteria, please visit our information on state pensions.

Data Protection Act

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office holds and uses data for purposes notified to the Information Commissioner under the Data Protection Act 1998. Such personal data may be disclosed to other UK government departments and public authorities.

Disclaimer

This information is provided as a general guide and is based upon information provided to the embassy by the relevant authorities and may be subject to change at any time with little or no notice. Accordingly the FCO and the British embassy will not be liable for any inaccuracies in this information. For all notarial and legalisation services it is the responsibility of the customer to ascertain the precise requirements of the person requesting the notarial or legalisation service and to satisfy themselves that the service provided by the embassy/consulate will be accepted.